In honor of this year’s United Nations International Mother Earth Day, ECO2RUPPERS Africa has implemented policies that will spare Nigeria and other African nations the staggering cost of US$70 billion in damages caused by plastic pollution. As stated in a statement by Mr. Victor Wilkinson Lead Sustainable Development Partner for Africa the organization would enlist 250 million volunteers throughout the 54 African nations to guarantee a future free of plastic pollution.
The goal of the initiative is to organize the largest green citizen action campaign in Africa by empowering training and deploying young people who care about the environment.
With women and youth at the forefront of climate-smart and resilient economies, the Eco-Marshalls Project is designed to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) decade of action.
The non-profit organization Earth Action predicts that September 5th, 2024 will be the global plastic overshoot day. This date signifies the point at which the amount of plastic waste produced on Earth exceeds the capacity of the planet’s waste management systems. To Act Your Part Against Plastic Pollution in Africa and create a healthier plastic-pollution-free future for future generations ECO2RUPPERS Africa collaborated with the global call to action.
According to ECO2RUPPERS Africa a transition to a circular economy particularly in the global South can generate 700000 new jobs save governments US$70 billion by 2040 cut the amount of plastics entering the ocean by over 80% and reduce the production of virgin plastic by 55%. The group denounced the effects of plastic pollution on the health of African citizens pointing out that the Mother Earth Day event with the theme Planet vs. Plastics brought attention to the urgent need to address the growing problem of plastic waste which endangers both human health and the integrity of the environment.
It foresaw impending disaster due to the effects of pollution and plastic production on the triple planetary crisis of climate change loss of natural habitat and pollution. According to ECO2RUPPERS Africa, the open burning of plastics adds to air pollution and can have negative effects on fertility hormones metabolism and neurological function in humans. Given the objective of keeping global warming to 1. 5°C (34°F) it was predicted that by 2050 greenhouse gas emissions related to the production use and disposal of plastic would make up 15% of all permitted emissions.
“Through ingestion entanglement and other risks, this pollution affects over 800 marine and coastal species. The amount of plastic garbage that enters oceans each year is estimated to reach 11 million tonnes and by 2040 this number is predicted to triple. Every year the African continent produces 19 million tonnes of plastic waste of which 17 million tonnes—or nearly 90 percent—are improperly managed. Only 4% of the municipal solid waste produced on the continent is recycled with plastic making up 13% of the total waste produced.
The continent is expected to produce six times as much plastic waste annually by 2060—116 million tonnes—if current trends continue according to a World Bank report. Every nation observes a Plastic Overshoot Day annually.
Approximately 45 out of the 54 countries in Africa (or more than 84 percent) had already reached their Plastic Overshoot Day for 2024 by March of this year which is alarming. It was said that plastic pollution is an environmental crisis that stems from the disparity between the amount of plastic produced and consumed and the capacity of the global community to handle that quantity when it turns into waste.”
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